As
one of our members, talking about Chiswick
Library, said: "Nobody really knows. It
s all up in the air." And that just about
sums it up.

Ever
since we read the Leader of the Council's answer
to the question, in Chatt
Session, about whether or not the council
is proceeding with plans for the New Library:
"No, the Council will not be proceeding
with the current plans for Chiswick Library..
.The proposals have to be taken back to the
drawing board..." we have heard rumours
about what might be happening which we have
not been able to substantiate.

A
letter, dated 24 June, from Chiswick Riverside
Councillor Paul Lynch (addressed to the Chief
Executive, Head of Street Management and Public
Protection, the Chair of the Sustainable Development
Committee and to the Lead Member for Development
and Regeneration with copies to various people
including ourselves) states that "two
separate groups have approached me with interesting
counterproposals..." Cllr Lynch promises
that a meeting will take place early in September
to consider these proposals.

The
Friends have written to him twice in order
to find out more about these proposals and
who is responsible for them. So far we have
not received a reply. We need to study the
proposals before they are put before a meeting
in order to respond adequately. What is the
mystery all about?

The
public were excluded from that part of the
recent Chiswick Area Committee meeting when
the report of the Council legal department
on the Restrictive Covenants associated with
the gift of the building to the public was
made. We have heard through the grapevine that
it was claimed that they would not be an obstacle
to the proposed redevelopment. We are investigating
this further ourselves.

The
report of Hillier Parker, the independent valuers
of the proposed scheme, that was promised earlier
this year has, so far as we know, yet to be
presented. We and the public at large will
be most interested to learn what they think
about whether or not the Council is getting
good value.

Members
and readers will also be interested to know
that English Heritage take a very dim view
of the scheme, especially of its plan to relegate
the public library to the ill-lit, airless
basement.